When you focus all of the Penguins' problems on one person, a so-called whipping boy, you appear less knowledgeable than the posters that possess a more nuanced view of the team and its problems. Along those lines, rash responses like "Martin Sucks" or "AHHH Martin," carry a lot less weight than "Martin needs to adapt to X" or "We don't have a replacement for Martin."

To the extent you're interested in preserving or creating credibility, "player bashing" is not the way to go. It also generally brings down the quality of the board and makes people run away.

thepittman wrote:Give the guy a chance, it's a new season for everyone. Who knows why he was off last year, but that doesn't necessitate a continued lackluster performance. Kick some ass this year Martin!

Not sure why people somehow forget that he was not great the year before last either. People have a legit reason to gripe over him still being a penguin. However, you are right... this is a new year and he is still a penguin, so we should all allow him to start over and see what he can do. But his leash should be short. Of the two, Z was the lesser of two evils.

1) hockey's back. Time to discuss2) the buyout isn't until next year, but its still a reasonable discussion point now, since its a fun new wrinkle3) Martin is the player who needs to improve the most (there's fleury, but that's complicated). 4) Who else is that interesting? Seems like our team is made up of consistent commodities or young guys that people know nothing about.

That makes him a hot topic. I agree that there are hollow arguments surrounding the guy, but he's a significant puzzle piece right now.

When people criticize a player it is because he isn't performing as expected. That goes for any athlete and comes with the territory of being an athlete.

Hard to see that Martin would magically transform from his often sucky form into a more dependable player, but this break is good for a guy like Martin, as it allows him to reflect and have a fresh start. I'll be rooting for him again, but I'm keeping my eyes open and would like to see some improvement.